So tomorrow I go for my regular appointment with my GI. He's a great doc, I'm very happy that I found him.
But I'll be going with my own agenda. As I mentioned in my very first post, there are far too many people who have gastrointestinal disorders and either have no clue that they need to alter their diet, or have no idea what to include or exclude. So, I'll be pitching my idea that he needs to hire yours truly to do just that. I have found an online Nutritional Consultant program that I am going to present to him, just to get his professional opinion on, and then tell him every reason why he should hire me.
Sure does sound simple enough, hope it works out that way. Truth is, I love food!! And to be able to put that to work for me would just about be my dream job. I'll keep you all updated!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
How common is Celiac Disease?
Probably a lot more than you think.
It is estimated that there are 3 million people in the US alone who have celiac Disease. Of that number, only about about 3% are diagnosed. How's this for comparison: celiac is more common that Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis (MS), parkinson's disease AND cystic fibrosis combined. So then why is it so underdiagnosed?
For starters, the list of symptoms is 250 and counting. My worst symptoms were headaches, fatigue and nausea. For someone else it may be mouth sores and joint pain; for another, fibromyalgia. The problem is that doctors aren't even testing for celiac in most patients because it is still considered by many to be "rare". But you know, rare is kind of self-fulfilling, isn't it? For a more exhaustive list of symptoms, check out www.celiac.org
And then there's the testing for celiac disease. If it's not administered correctly (again, the whole rare thing coming in to play), it's pretty unreliable. The truth is, no matter how sick I ever got, I would never have shown up on a standard issue celiac panel blood test. And that is why it takes an average of 11 years for a patient to be diagnosed with celiac after they begin to experience symptoms. I guess I should be happy it only took me 2 and a half, huh?
So, if you have some strange symptoms and no one can figure out what's up, ask your doc to do a simple celiac panel. It will only hurt a little.
It is estimated that there are 3 million people in the US alone who have celiac Disease. Of that number, only about about 3% are diagnosed. How's this for comparison: celiac is more common that Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis (MS), parkinson's disease AND cystic fibrosis combined. So then why is it so underdiagnosed?
For starters, the list of symptoms is 250 and counting. My worst symptoms were headaches, fatigue and nausea. For someone else it may be mouth sores and joint pain; for another, fibromyalgia. The problem is that doctors aren't even testing for celiac in most patients because it is still considered by many to be "rare". But you know, rare is kind of self-fulfilling, isn't it? For a more exhaustive list of symptoms, check out www.celiac.org
And then there's the testing for celiac disease. If it's not administered correctly (again, the whole rare thing coming in to play), it's pretty unreliable. The truth is, no matter how sick I ever got, I would never have shown up on a standard issue celiac panel blood test. And that is why it takes an average of 11 years for a patient to be diagnosed with celiac after they begin to experience symptoms. I guess I should be happy it only took me 2 and a half, huh?
So, if you have some strange symptoms and no one can figure out what's up, ask your doc to do a simple celiac panel. It will only hurt a little.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Why no grains?
So, all the time we hear about how great whole grains are for us. But to those of us doing or considering the SCD, they are off limits.
It's really pretty simple. When someone has Celiac, or any other sort of intestinal disorder, the enzymes that would normally break down food molecules are severely damaged, impairing the intestines ability to do what it is made to do: digest. And complex carbohydrates, such as those found in grains, are difficult to digest. With a less than perfect intestinal tract in place, it becomes nearly impossible. What happens then?
When the carbohydrates aren't digested properly, they just kind of sit. The harmful bacteria that normally stays in check in our guts then have a feast. So they feed on the undigested carbs, and then produce by products that just make things worse. Thus goes the cycle. Undigested carbs become food for harmful bacteria, harmful bacteria produce harmful by products which damage the intestines more and so on. From there you go to malabsorption, which causes fatigue and all other sorts of things.
The ideal behind the SCD is getting the bad bacteria under control by limiting the amount of carbs and eating easily digestible food. Once the bad bacteria are under control and the good bacteria are back to normal, often grains can be reintroduced into the diet.
So far, I can tell a difference when I eat grains and when I don't. This is definitely going to take some practice, it's definitely harder than just being gluten-free.
It's really pretty simple. When someone has Celiac, or any other sort of intestinal disorder, the enzymes that would normally break down food molecules are severely damaged, impairing the intestines ability to do what it is made to do: digest. And complex carbohydrates, such as those found in grains, are difficult to digest. With a less than perfect intestinal tract in place, it becomes nearly impossible. What happens then?
When the carbohydrates aren't digested properly, they just kind of sit. The harmful bacteria that normally stays in check in our guts then have a feast. So they feed on the undigested carbs, and then produce by products that just make things worse. Thus goes the cycle. Undigested carbs become food for harmful bacteria, harmful bacteria produce harmful by products which damage the intestines more and so on. From there you go to malabsorption, which causes fatigue and all other sorts of things.
The ideal behind the SCD is getting the bad bacteria under control by limiting the amount of carbs and eating easily digestible food. Once the bad bacteria are under control and the good bacteria are back to normal, often grains can be reintroduced into the diet.
So far, I can tell a difference when I eat grains and when I don't. This is definitely going to take some practice, it's definitely harder than just being gluten-free.
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